


Tender

by queensguardian



Series: All For The Game Musings [3]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, Scar Care, Scars, caring for each other, so sweet it will rot your teeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 17:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15999926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queensguardian/pseuds/queensguardian
Summary: Scars linger long after they’ve healed. Andrew wants to help.





	Tender

**Author's Note:**

> So. As someone who has scars, I know that deep scars need care. If they aren’t massaged and taken care of, they can cause a lot of pain and stiffness. Even if they are, they still can cause nerve pain and numbness for a long time. And I know for a fact that Neil would never even think to take care of himself.

  
The first time Andrew noticed it was after a particularly grueling practice in July. It was just the Monsters, but Kevin pushed them predictably hard. Andrew just stood in the goal, less bored now that he was actually trying occasionally, but still apathetic enough not to try sometimes.

It was when they were done showering, the others already out by the car and Andrew leaning against the wall outside the locker room waiting for Neil that it happened. Neil came out of the locker room with his duffel slung over his shoulder, hair still drying form his shower and eyes bright with exertion.

Andrew had flicked his eyes over Neil appreciatively, trying and undoubtedly failing to be subtle about it. But it was only because of this close examination that he noticed; Neil rollled his shoulders back in a stretch and they twitched a little as if catching on something. He didn’t wince or make a sound-his pain tolerance was too great and he was too stubborn. But his throat bobbed in a swallow, and his jaw clenched a little.

There and gone, in an instant, and then Neil was smiling a little at Andrew before walking past him and out to the car.

Andrew didn’t say anything because he knew that no one had hurt Neil during practice, but his eyes narrowed in calculation after the idiot.

Neil was not nearly as good at hiding his pains as he thought he was. Not anymore.

Over the next few weeks Andrew watched him more closely than usual, and he started to notice it happening more and more. Andrew didn’t even think Neil noticed it consciously; he just went about his business, occasionally stiffening in pain.

So one night, in his bunk after Neil had gone to sleep, Andrew started research.

#

“What’s this?” Neil lifted his eyebrows in surprise, as he clicked the door shut behind him.

Andrew had been stubbornly silent about their trip to Columbia that weekend. It was the first time they’d have the whole house to themselves; Aaron was visiting Katelyn, Nicky had gotten a surprise trip from Erik, and Kevin decided to stay with Wymack for the weekend.

It had left Neil sitting contentedly in the passenger seat of the Maserati with the window down, relishing in the feeling of the wind over his fingertips as Andrew sped them out to Columbia together.

And now, as he came upstairs from getting their bags from the car, he found Andrew sitting on the bed holding a small tub of lotion and obviously waiting for him.

“Sit,” Andrew said simply, gesturing to the bed.

Neil sat obediently, dropping their bags and eyeing Andrew with blatant curiosity.

Andrew glared down at the lotion, making Neil fight back a smile, and then he finally seemed to find the words he’d been looking for.  
“Your scars hurt you still, don’t they?”

It wasn’t what Neil had been expecting. He blinked in surprise, and then flushed. Of course they did. He was covered. He sometimes had tingling pain, raw and open and leaving him feeling like someone had stripped away at his skin and left his muscles open to the air. Some of his scars felt nothing; still numb to all sensation. But all of them, nearly every single one except a few of the older ones, hurt when he moved. They pulled and stretched and basically annoyed him to no end.

Neil averted his eyes and twisted his fingers together, half annoyed at being so obvious about it that Andrew had caught on, and half guilty that he’d hidden it from him in the first place.

Andrew huffed in response, and waited until Neil looked up again. “Why?” _Why didn’t you say something?_

Neil shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

It wasn’t quite the truth, but it was close enough. His scars were nothing. Nothing compared to what he’d been through, and not significant enough to take away from the happiness he felt now for the first time in his life. He could take a little pain.

“You idiot,” Andrew said with passion, and Neil winced a little. “No, you don’t do that anymore. You don’t just keep this shit to yourself. That’s not how this works.”

It was the first time Andrew had referred to what they had as this, and Neil couldn’t hold back a little smile, despite the circumstances, which Andrew ignored.

“I’ve been looking into it,” Andrew said, twitching his fingers and drawing Neil’s attention to the jar in his hands. “I think I can help.”

Neil breathed out slowly, fighting the little flicker of hope in his chest. “Andrew, thank you, but—I think this is just how it’s going to be. They’re healed; it’s just how it is.”

Andrew scowled at him, and reached out to finger Neil’s t-shirt. “Do you trust me?”

Caught off guard, Neil said, “Of course, Andrew.”

“Yes or no?”

“Yes, ok.” Neil pulled off his shirt, exposing himself to Andrew in a way that had only ever been comfortable with him.

Andrew looked at his chest with a carefully blank expression, tracing over the more recent, red ones with his eyes. He unscrewed the lid to the jar, and stood, gesturing for Neil to lay down. Neil lay on his back, and Andrew dragged a chair over to sit next to him, setting the jar down on the bed and dipping his fingers in and coating them.

“This might hurt some the first few times,” Andrew said, and it was both a warning and an offering for Neil to stop if he needed to.

Neil nodded and stared up at the ceiling. “Ok.”

He trusted Andrew with his life; more than he'd ever trusted anyone else. But he also knew how much things could hurt. He was nervous but forced himself to relax and trust Andrew's judgement and his hands, which had never lied to him before. 

Andrew gently rested his hands on Neil’s chest, starting by gently running his hands over his skin, both warming up the lotion and letting Neil get accustomed to the touch. It felt the way it always did to have Andrew's hands on him; warm and safe and strong and comfortable. But this time those hands weren't there for the purpose of getting Neil off; they were just there to stay on his torso. To help.

Then his hands slowed over one of Neil’s older scars, one he’d gotten from his father’s knives when he was teaching Neil how to use them. Andrew paused there for a moment, before he started pushing and pulling at the scar tissue, perpendicular to the slash, gently at first and then firmer, digging into the scar. He moved those hands back and forth, pulling at the tissue and rubbing the lotion into it.

It made Neil's abdomen jump against the pressure. He was right; it did hurt a little, but differently than Neil had expected. It felt like Andrew was separating the skin away from the muscle, and it hurt but also felt like _relief_. He must have let out a noise, because Andrew’s hands stopped immediately but didn’t pull away.

“It’s ok,” Neil said, softly, his voice vulnerable. “It-it wasn’t what I was expecting, but it’s good. Keep going.”

Neil didn’t look at Andrew, but the hands resumed their push and pull, spending what felt like an infinite amount of time on that scar before moving on to the next one.

#

By the time Andrew finished with Neil’s torso, the sun had dipped below the hills and Andrew’s room was bathed in twilight. Neil felt like he was floating; content and exhausted from the confusing sensations.

Andrew’s hands finally pulled away from his back, and Neil grunted a little, feeling like he was moving through molasses. His eyes had drifted closed, and he didn’t bother to open them as he heard Andrew moving around the room. Eventually, he felt a warm hand cup his cheek, and he turned onto his back and opened his eyes to look up at Andrew.

“Here,” Andrew spoke a little gruffly, before dropping Neil’s pjs onto his chest; he must have grabbed them out of Neil’s bag. “Get dressed, I’m not sleeping next to someone in jeans.”

He turned and left, presumably to use the restroom before bed. Neil sluggishly sat up and pulled on his pjs. He thought about how good it felt to have Andrew’s hands on him, not touching him with any intent other than to heal. It filled his chest with overwhelming warmth. No one had ever wanted to touch him like that. Neil would never have wanted them to.

He got up and brushed his teeth when Andrew came back, a little shaky but otherwise feeling extremely content. He blinked as his reflection; he looked like he’d had a very good time in bed, doing much more interesting things that having a massage.

Turning red a little at the thought, he finished in the bathroom and returned to Andrew’s room, flicking lights off as he went.

Andrew was already lying in bed against the wall, holding a book above his face and ignoring Neil completely. Neil had a sneaking suspicion this was completely for his own benefit, and he appreciated it immensely. He’d had someone else’s hands on him all afternoon, and while it was wonderful and he felt better than he had in a long time, it was still a little overwhelming.

He got into bed, curling onto his side and looking at Andrew with soft eyes, feeling his heart swell in his chest.

“Staring,” Andrew muttered, but it lacked any real heat, and he set his book down before rolling onto his side to stare right back.

Neil smiled and laid his hand down on the bed between them. Andrew took that as the question it was and covered Neil’s hand with his own.

“Tomorrow we’ll do your arms and face.” Andrew said quietly, and Neil nodded, sighing contentedly.

“Thank you, Andrew. I didn’t know it could be better.” _It’s already so good._

Andrew closed his eyes for a minute, before meeting Neil’s gaze steadily. “110%. Turn that light off.”

Neil smiled one more time, before reaching out and flicking the light off. Andrew didn’t take his hand away. Neither did Neil.

**Author's Note:**

> Also these boys taking care of each other just kills me. Neither of them are familiar or comfortable with kind touch, platonic or otherwise. And it just. I feel so much about this. That they can make each other comfortable with those kinds of touching. Also Andrew taking care of Neil because he *wants* to and not because of a deal I am d e a d.


End file.
